“San Francisco or any other city doesn’t have to wait for new Wi-Fi networks to be built,” said Joanna Rees, chairman of U.S. operations for FON.
C/Net says on Friday, the company will give away its Wi-Fi routers, which will allow broadband subscribers to share their Internet connections. “Freedom Friday,” as the company is calling the event, will kick off at noon in San Francisco’s Union Square.
Initially, FON’s software could be downloaded onto existing home routers. It allowed broadband subscribers to split their Internet connection so that it offers a secure connection indoors and an open connection to people outside the home. But this proved too difficult for most people, so FON built its own, small router, called La Fonera.
The 802.11g La Fonera router, introduced only a few weeks ago, was designed for easy installation. Users simply plug the device into their existing broadband modem, and, voila, their broadband connection is converted into a FON access point.
Currently, about 112,000 La Fonera and FON-enabled routers have been registered with the company. To help spur adoption it’s been offering the routers on its Web site for $5 apiece. It’s also taking its promotion on the road, offering routers for free in cities such as San Francisco and in New York, where it’s planning an East coast “Freedom” event for later this year.
Once users have registered, they become part of the FON community, which allows them free access to any FON hot spot in the world. Non-FON members can also access the network, but they must pay $1 or $2 for 24 hours of access. This small fee is actually how FON generates revenue.
While FON’s concept of grassroots Wi-Fi may sound like a good idea, it’s not without issues. For one, many Internet service providers, such as AT&T and Time Warner, consider the very concept a violation of their customer contracts.
“Sharing bandwidth outside of a dwelling without our consent is a violation of our terms of service,” said Maureen Huff, a spokeswoman for Time Warner cable. “People need to know that sharing their broadband service amounts to theft. It’s analogous to running a cable line outside your window and giving free video signals to your neighbor, which I think everyone recognizes that’s wrong.”
While it might be difficult for service providers to pinpoint who’s using a FON router, Huff said there are ways find out if someone is illegally sharing broadband service. If illegal usage continues, Time Warner can cut off service.
“There are 400 million Wi-Fi connections around the world. If we could get all of them to become part of the FON community and share their Wi-Fi, we would have ubiquitous coverage around the world today. And we wouldn’t need to build municipal Wi-Fi networks,” said Joanna Rees, chairman of U.S. operations for FON.
If you’re wondering when city-wide Wi-Fi courtesy of Google and EarthLink will become a reality, the short answer is stay tuned says the SF Chronicle. Community meetings and negotiations are still ongoing.
